Navigating New York Incentives for Multifamily Energy Efficiency Projects

Several incentive programs are available for multifamily housing projects in New York State. Understanding your options, selecting the best program for your project, and navigating the process can be a bit confusing if it is unfamiliar territory. However, the reward is worth the effort. Here are three of the most beneficial and most utilized programs available statewide.

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) Multifamily Performance Program (MPP)

NYSERDA MPP applies to both existing and new construction projects, providing financial incentives to owners for buildings in both the affordable and market-rate sectors and technical assistance through the NYSERDA Partner Network.…

Manhattan Law Firm to Occupy Three Floors at 1350 Broadway

Law firm Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP has signed an expansion lease at W&H Properties’ 1350 Broadway that will increase the firm’s occupancy by 35 percent, announces Anthony Malkin, president of Malkin Holdings L.L.C., which supervises the W&H Properties portfolio.

With the expansion, Tarter Krinsky & Drogin will occupy 37,609 square feet on three floors. The firm moved into 1350 Broadway in 2007.

“Tarter Krinksy & Drogin has been a tenant at 1350 Broadway during a period in which we have transformed the property in a $53-million, top-to-bottom upgrade program,” says Mr. Malkin. “This expansion demonstrates that we’ve delivered on our promises and ensured the highest levels of tenant satisfaction.”

117 Year Old 24-Story High-Rise Sold in Off Market Transaction

Northwood Investors has purchased 100 Broadway, a 24-story office building located on the southeast corner of Broadway and Pine Street in downtown Manhattan, right in the heart of Lower Manhattan. The seller was Madison Capital and the purchase price was $150 million.

Brookfield Financial served as the sole advisor to Northwood Investors on this off-market transaction. The Brookfield Financial team, led by Managing Partner Chris Wilson, was also responsible for bringing Northwood together with the sellers.

$32 Million Rehab Planned for Chicago’s 2101 South Michigan Apartments

The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust (HIT) is spending $32 million of pension capital funding towards the major rehabilitation of 2101 South Michigan, a 26-story residential tower on Chicago’s Near South Side. Rehabilitation work on the aging property will improve the quality of life for residents and generate approximately 245 union construction jobs.

Built in 1971 with financial assistance from the Federal Housing Administration’s grant program for affordable housing, the property is currently in need of major upgrades that will help the 250-unit building become more energy efficient.…

Chicago’s 300 South Wacker Drives Sells for $112.5 Million

An affiliate of Harbor Group International, LLC (“HGI”) has completed the sale of 300 South Wacker Drive, a 35-story, 512,436 building in downtown Chicago, for $112.5 million. The buyer was Beacon Capital Partners, of Boston. HGI purchased the property in August of 2006 for $91.5 million.

The company continues to own nearly 2 million square feet of Class A office property in downtown Chicago. HGI’s other downtown Chicago assets include One South Wacker, a 40-story, 1,195,000 square foot office building at the corner or Madison Street and Wacker Drive; and 2 North LaSalle, a 715,000 square foot downtown office tower.

ComEd Offering Chicago Building Owners Rebates on Full Spectrum LED Lighting

To accelerate the adoption of high quality, energy efficient LED lighting; ComEd is offering substantial rebates on Soraa’s gallium-nitride on gallium-nitride (GaN on GaN™), full visible spectrum LED MR16 lamps. With the rebates, Chicago businesses now have another incentive to install Soraa’s MR16 LED lamps, well known as the best LED MR16 retrofit lamp available, delivering the highest light output, color rendering, whiteness, and beam of any comparable product.…

‘Unbuilt San Francisco’ Exhibit Explores What Might Have Been

If San Franciscans like to describe their city as “49 square miles surrounded by reality,” the visionary ideas that were too grandiose for even San Franciscans to consider remain some of the most fantastic designs for any city in the world. Imagine the Ferry Building surrounded by office towers, a grand casino on Alcatraz, the city wrapped in freeways and a subdivision covering flattened hills north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

AIA San Francisco, Center for Architecture + Design, Environmental Design Archives at UC Berkeley, California Historical Society, SPUR and the San Francisco Public Library are presenting “Unbuilt San Francisco,” a collaborative exhibition on view August – November, 2013.

88,134 Square Foot Lease at 1455 Market Street High-Rise in San Francisco

Hudson Pacific Properties has signed a new lease at its 22-story high-rise at 1455 Market Street with Uber Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of affordable luxury transportation through an efficient technology-centered approach.

The new ten-year 88,134 square-foot lease encompasses the entire fourth floor of 1455 Market and backfills space currently occupied by the property’s largest tenant that was scheduled to expire in 2017. Commencement of the lease with Uber is scheduled for first quarter 2014.

KONE Buys Empire Elevator in San Francisco

KONE has acquired the San Francisco-based business of Empire Elevator Co., Inc., an independent elevator company. Empire has operated in the attractive Bay Area market since 1978 under the capable leadership of President Bruce Moore, who will join the combined KONE team in a key role.

Empire and KONE will be combining their elevator operations under the KONE name during the next few months.

“The Empire and KONE operations will fit well together and we are thrilled to be adding great new customers in the very important San Francisco market,” said Larry Wash, KONE Executive Vice President for the Americas.…

Switch Automation Opens Seattle Office

Switch Automation’s CEO Deb Noller announced today the opening of the company’s second West Coast office, in Seattle, to serve clients in the Pacific Northwest. The office will be headed up by Peter Rake, Chief Operations Officer.

Noller said, “We have seen building owners in Seattle realize the time and cost-saving benefits of the Switch platform, designed to monitor building portfolios. Our engaging and interactive user interface, scalability of solutions, tools for importing real-time operations data, ease of data handling for multiple formats from dozens of sources, and the robustness of working with the Microsoft Azure cloud platform have really struck a chord with company executives who are currently struggling with large amounts of building data kept in multiple systems or even in spreadsheets.”

Seattle’s 47-Story Wells Fargo Center Acquired by Ivanhoé Cambridge

Ivanhoé Cambridge continues to deploy its growth strategy in the United States with the acquisition of a 100% interest in the Wells Fargo Center, a 47-story, Class A, office tower with 983,600 square-feet of leasable space. The company’s investment of approximately $390 million brings Ivanhoé Cambridge’s share of leasable Class A space in Seattle’s financial district to nearly 8%.

“This acquisition, an excellent investment opportunity brought to our attention through our partner, Callahan Capital Properties, contributes to our strategy aimed at building a national platform…

41-Story Apartment Tower in Downtown Seattle Breaks Ground

This week construction began on a 41-story residential project located at 2030 8th Avenue in downtown Seattle. GID Development’s 355-unit luxury apartment tower features panoramic views of Seattle’s downtown skyline, Lake Union, Puget Sound and Elliot Bay.

“Seattle is a priority market for us due to its strong employment growth, highly educated workforce and remarkable urban lifestyle,” said James Linsley, President of GID Development Group. “The location of this project at the intersection of South Lake Union and downtown Seattle’s office and retail core, combined with the superior level of amenities and finishes makes this a unique and highly desirable development opportunity.”

24-Story Landmark Square in Longbeach Sold for $136 Million

Brookfield Office Properties Inc. has sold the Landmark Square office building on Ocean Blvd. in downtown Long Beach, CA for approximately $136 million or $306 per square foot, resulting in net proceeds of approximately $61 million to the company.

The buyer was John Hancock, the U.S. division of Manulife Financial Corporation, one of the largest life insurance companies in the world.

Museum Exhibit Displays L.A. Developments that Were Never Built

‘Never Built: Los Angeles’ is a new show at the A+D Architecture and Design Museum that examines over a century of ambitious projects that never materialized in the city of Los Angeles.

Never Built: Los Angeles explores the “what if” Los Angeles. A thorough compendium of projects that only saw the drawing board, the exhibition asks: Why is Los Angeles a hotbed of great architects, yet so lacking in urban innovation?

Hines Sells 30-Story Office Building One Wilshire in Los Angeles

Hines Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. (Hines REIT) has sold three office buildings, one in Los Angeles and two in El Segundo for a total price of $550,000,000.

The first property is One Wilshire, a 30-story, Class A office building located in downtown Los Angeles. It contains 663,000 square feet of telecom and office space, and it was acquired by Hines REIT in 2007. The property is 93 percent leased to companies including Verizon Communications, CRG West, Quest Communications, CoreSite, Crowell Weedon and Musick Peeler.

Boston’s 120 Kingston Street Developer to Present Case Study

Boston’s NAIOP Developing Leaders are hosting an event on September 17th featuring Forest City Enterprises executives, who will discuss the design and construction of their $130-million high-rise residential project at 120 Kingston Street.

According to the event announcement, real estate developers are constantly weighing decisions related to design and construction. These decisions are often evaluated using a number of metrics: schedule, aesthetics, cost, maintenance and property management, market expectations, a desire to differentiate, and a need to meet the design criteria of the Boston Redevelopment Authority and other city agencies.

Marc Langone Joins Lerch Bates as Project Manager

Lerch Bates, an international consulting firm for vertical transportation, façade access and materials management, announced Marc Langone has joined the company as project manager for its New England Region. Langone brings to Lerch Bates more than 10 years of valued experience in elevator service and modernization sales, supervision and project management.

Langone is assigned to Lerch Bates’ Boston office where he manages vertical transportation system studies, performs vertical maintenance evaluations and designs vertical transportation systems.

Boston REIT Buys Three High-Rises, Arizona’s Tallest Residential Building

A Boston-based REIT, Winthrop Realty Trust, has entered into a binding purchase agreement to acquire four recently constructed class A luxury apartment buildings for an aggregate purchase price of $246 million, including the tallest residential building in Arizona. The four properties, including three high-rises, were all built to condominium specifications prior to a lender foreclosure.

44 Monroe, located in Phoenix, Arizona, is a 34-story residential building comprised of 184 units originally built for sale as condominiums with 1,377 square feet of ground level retail space.

Jones Lang LaSalle Acquires Knaus Partners

In a strategic move to aggressively expand its industry-leading third-party property management expertise, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) has acquired Means Knaus Partners (MKP), a Houston-based property management company. The transaction will boost JLL’s portfolio of office space under management by approximately 16 million square feet with properties located primarily in Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Orlando and Tampa.

Founded as a private real estate investment and management company in 1998 by industry veterans Steve Means and Doug Knaus, MKP manages 80 prime metropolitan office assets throughout the United States. Doug Knaus, MKP CEO, will join Jones Lang LaSalle as an International Director, and Robert Nowak, MKP COO, will join JLL as a Managing Director, along with nearly 100 MKP employees.

Boston REIT Buys Three High-Rises, Arizona’s Tallest Residential Building

A Boston-based REIT, Winthrop Realty Trust, has entered into a binding purchase agreement to acquire four recently constructed class A luxury apartment buildings for an aggregate purchase price of $246 million, including the tallest residential building in Arizona. The four properties, including three high-rises, were all built to condominium specifications prior to a lender foreclosure.

44 Monroe, located in Phoenix, Arizona, is a 34-story residential building comprised of 184 units originally built for sale as condominiums with 1,377 square feet of ground level retail space.

Window Film Cuts High-Rise Hotel’s HVAC Costs by Nearly One-Quarter

Through its line of performance films, Eastman Chemical Company has partnered with the Hyatt Regency Houston and Green Generation Solutions (GGS), an energy-efficiency and sustainability engineering firm, to measure the true energy-savings impact of EnerLogic 35 low-e window film.

The 924,000-square foot Hyatt Regency Houston sought to address temperature complaints from guests, as well as its high energy expenditures that totaled $1.6 million annually. The high utility bills were diverting resources the hotel uses to offer best-in-class service and amenities to guests.

CBRE Selected To Market Downtown Dallas Office Tower

CBRE has been selected by Berkeley First City, L.P., an affiliate of Berkeley Investments to replace Jones Lang LaSalle as the exclusive marketing advisor for 1700 Pacific, an iconic office tower located in Dallas’ revitalized Central Business District. The 49-story office building has nearly 1.4 million rentable square feet, an underground parking garage and an off-site garage connected to the building via air-conditioned sky bridges.

Developer Aquires Land to Construct ‘One Dallas’ Mixed-Use High-Rise

Stoneleigh Companies, LLC, development partner of SC One Dallas LLC, has qcquired a site in Uptown Dallas for the future development of One Dallas, a to-be-built high-rise mixed use tower at the NE corner of McKinney and Routh Streets in Dallas, TX. One Dallas will include up to 30,000 square feet of premium restaurant/retail space and 200 units of Class A+ apartments in a 20-story tower.…

Dallas Skyline Turns Pink in Honor of Mary Kay’s 50th Anniversary

Who says a 50th anniversary has to be a golden celebration? To honor Mary Kay Inc.’s 50th anniversary, and the arrival of nearly 50,000 independent sales force members for the company’s annual convention, landmarks throughout Dallas are twinkling with pink lights.

The city’s pink glow pays tribute to Mary Kay Ash, the visionary founder of Mary Kay and the inspiration behind the company’s 50th anniversary celebration entitled, “One Woman CanTM.” From a small Dallas storefront in 1963 to a cosmetic powerhouse with 3 million independent sales force members worldwide, Mary Kay’s mission remains the same 50 years later – to enrich women’s lives.

U.S. Steel Tower in Pittsburgh Offers Electric Vehicle Charging Service

Central Parking Systems, now provides EV (electric vehicle) charging services from Car Charging Group at U.S. Steel Tower in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

U.S. Steel Tower, at 600 Grant Street, is a 64-story Class “A” office building in the Central Business District of Pittsburgh. The property provides access to various service providers, restaurants, and retailers including PNC Bank, Au Bon Pain, and Starbucks. EV charging services are now available in the building’s 720-parking space garage.…

Forest City Sells Liberty Center Complex in Pittsburgh to Starwood Capital

Forest City Enterprises has completed the sale of Liberty Center complex in Pittsburgh to a subsidiary of Starwood Capital Group, a leading global private investment firm. Liberty Center includes the 27-story Federated Investors office tower and the 616-room Westin Convention Center Hotel.

The gross selling price was $135 million, and the transaction generated net cash proceeds, at Forest City’s share, of approximately $30 million. Prior to the transaction, the property was owned in a 50/50 partnership by Forest City and Jos. L. Muscarelle, Inc. of Maywood, New Jersey.

The Tower at PNC Plaza in Pittsburgh to Install Thermal Break Elements

Builders at The Tower at PNC Plaza, the new headquarters of PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh, will be installing an innovative thermal break solution as a key component in the design of the 32-story building, billed as the “world’s greenest” office tower. The product they selected, Isokorb thermal break solution, was manufactured by the UK-based company, Schöck.

According to Erleen Hatfield, PE, LEED AP, AIA, Partner, Buro Happold, “To provide fully integrated engineering service for The Tower at PNC Plaza, it was incumbent on the team’s structural engineers to understand and embrace the high-performance goals of the project.…

Parmenter Names JLL Exclusive Leasing Agent for Atlanta’s Buckhead Tower

As part of ongoing capital improvements and the new branding for Buckhead Tower at Lenox Square, owner Parmenter Realty Partners has selected Jones Lang LaSalle as the exclusive leasing agent for the Class A, 20-story, 348,152-square-foot office tower located in the Buckhead submarket of Atlanta. Buckhead Tower at Lenox Square has one of largest blocks of space available in Buckhead, with up to 60,000 square feet of contiguous space.…

Hines Becomes New Manager of 999 Peachtree in Atlanta

Hines has been retained by Franklin Street Properties Corp. (FSP) to manage 999 Peachtree, a 28-story, 621,000-square-foot office building. The property is 94.6 percent leased and is located in Atlanta’s Midtown submarket at the intersection of 10th and Peachtree streets.

“Hines has enjoyed continuing to expand its relationship with Franklin Street Properties, managing buildings for FSP and its affiliates in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Kansas City. We look forward to achieving our owner’s asset objectives through our property management expertise,” said General Property Manager Lynn Lewis, who will oversee Hines’ onsite management staff.

Atlanta Midtown Mile Office High-Rise Sold for $157.9 Million

Massachusetts-based Franklin Street Properties has acquired a 28-story, multi-tenant office building on Peachtree Street in Atlanta for a purchase price of $157,900,000. Containing approximately 621,007 rentable square feet of space and a parking garage, 999 Peachtree Street is located in the midtown submarket, at the center of Atlanta’s celebrated Midtown Mile located along the one-mile stretch of Peachtree Street from North Avenue to 15th Street. It was completed in 1987 and is approximately 95% leased.

Marc Langone Joins Lerch Bates as Project Manager

Lerch Bates, an international consulting firm for vertical transportation, façade access and materials management, announced Marc Langone has joined the company as project manager for its New England Region. Langone brings to Lerch Bates more than 10 years of valued experience in elevator service and modernization sales, supervision and project management.

Langone is assigned to Lerch Bates’ Boston office where he manages vertical transportation system studies, performs vertical maintenance evaluations and designs vertical transportation systems.

2012 NYC Elevator Inspection Deadline Extended Again

The deadline to file 2012 Category 1 Elevator Inspection Reports and Affirmation of Correction Reports has been extended to the end of the year, to December 31, 2013.

Due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy, the DOB had previously extended the 2012 inspection and filing deadlines for elevators and vertical lift devices to March 29, 2013.

Building owners must have a basic test conducted on their devices annually, though these annual tests need not include a load test. Category 1 tests must be performed by an Approved Elevator Inspection Agency and witnessed by an Approved Agency not affiliated with the agency performing the inspection.

Lerch Bates Appoints Tim O’Brien Project Manager

Lerch Bates, an international consulting firm for vertical transportation, façade access and materials management, announced Tim O’Brien has joined the company in its Chicago office as project manager.

In his new role, O’Brien provides technical consulting services to architects, building owners and facility operators on material handling systems as well as collaborates on materials management, elevator and façade access consulting services. He manages automated logistics solutions for the healthcare industry as well as for commercial construction projects through the application of various automated material distribution systems. O’Brien also consults on the development of process improvement programs for healthcare facilities through the application of automated solutions.

Brooklyn Residential Complex Upgrades Building Management System

A massive residential development known as Spring Creek Towers in Brooklyn, New York has completed a $2-million smart building retrofit. The project will help facility personnel more effectively manage energy use, and increase safety and security across the development’s 46 apartment towers and multiple parking garages, retail centers and other amenities.

Opened in 1974, the housing development was originally known as Starret City, before being renamed in 2002. It contains 5,881 apartment units in buildings ranging from 11-stories to 20-stories and is said to be the largest federally assisted rental property in the United States.

Worker and Resident Safety Top Priority During Denver High-Rise Retrofit

Completed in 2003, Penterra Plaza in Denver includes 266 residential units, a seven-story office building, a three-story underground parking garage, and 21,310 square feet of retail space. The 23-story residential tower includes a community sun terrace, a game room, and a guest suite for visitors.

When residents discovered condensation on their window frames during cold outdoor temperatures, the engineers of Raths, Raths, and Johnson were called upon to develop a system to mitigate the condensation issue and Reconstruction Experts was contracted by the HOA to perform the repairs.

Universal Protection Service Acquires All Phase Security

Universal Protection Service, a division of Universal Services of America and one of the largest providers of security services in the U.S., is excited to announce that they have acquired All Phase Security, Inc. Since 1994, All Phase Security, Inc. has been providing top quality uniformed security services and investigations in the Northern California area.

“This acquisition further increases our presence throughout California, as well as in what we consider to be a very strategic marketplace for our company,” said Steve Jones, Co-CEO and COO of Universal Services of America.…

Automation System Degradation and What To Do About It

If you are like most system owners your Building Automation System (BAS) is in a state of semi-automated status once it hits its fifth birthday. You as the system owner or operator have had to make certain adjustments based upon the original system’s design not fully meeting your expectations and on-going needs. You have had to put certain of the “automated” functions “in-hand” or manually enable or disable certain sequences or equipment based upon the actual conditions in your now fully “loaded” or occupied building.…

ASHRAE’s Building Energy Labeling Program Expanded to Include ‘As Designed’

A building energy labeling program that allows the industry to zero in on opportunities to lower building operating cost and make informed decisions to increase value has been expanded to include an As Designed label.

The program is now two labels in one: an As Designed label that rates the building’s potential energy use under standardized conditions—independent of the building’s occupancy and usage—and an In Operation label that rates the building’s actual measured energy use as influenced by the building’s occupancy and usage.…

Carl A. Crow, PE, ASHRAE HBDP, Promoted to Senior Associate for ccrd partners

Texas based consulting engineering firm, ccrd partners, has promoted Carl A. Crow, PE, ASHRAE HBDP to Senior Associate. Carl joined ccrd in May, 2012. In a statement, ccrd said Crow’s wealth of engineering expertise in heating ventilation and air conditioning, plumbing, fire protection, medical gas/vacuum systems, and building energy management and control is a welcome addition to the ccrd team.

Report Shows Year Over Year Improvement in Building Performance

A new report published by the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Greenprint Center for Building Performance suggests that the global real estate industry continues to make progress in improving the environmental performance of existing buildings.

Volume 4 of the Greenprint Performance Report, which measures and tracks the performance of 3,232 buildings owned by Greenprint’s members, demonstrates a year-over-year reduction of 3.2 percent in energy consumption and 3.4 percent in carbon emissions.…

Brooklyn Residential Complex Upgrades Building Management System

A massive residential development known as Spring Creek Towers in Brooklyn, New York has completed a $2-million smart building retrofit. The project will help facility personnel more effectively manage energy use, and increase safety and security across the development’s 46 apartment towers and multiple parking garages, retail centers and other amenities.

Opened in 1974, the housing development was originally known as Starret City, before being renamed in 2002. It contains 5,881 apartment units in buildings ranging from 11-stories to 20-stories and is said to be the largest federally assisted rental property in the United States.

Switch Automation Opens Seattle Office

Switch Automation’s CEO Deb Noller announced today the opening of the company’s second West Coast office, in Seattle, to serve clients in the Pacific Northwest. The office will be headed up by Peter Rake, Chief Operations Officer.

Noller said, “We have seen building owners in Seattle realize the time and cost-saving benefits of the Switch platform, designed to monitor building portfolios. Our engaging and interactive user interface, scalability of solutions, tools for importing real-time operations data, ease of data handling for multiple formats from dozens of sources, and the robustness of working with the Microsoft Azure cloud platform have really struck a chord with company executives who are currently struggling with large amounts of building data kept in multiple systems or even in spreadsheets.”

New Data Identifies Top 5 Most, Least Expensive CRE Markets

Using results from the 2012 Experience Exchange Report (EER), The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International, compiled a list of the most and least expensive commercial real estate city-markets in the United States. The annual report aggregates rental income and operating expense figures from the previous year; in 2012, data was gathered from more than 5,300 buildings across 250 markets and 115 cities in the United States and Canada.

Five most expensive city-markets – Total operating expenses:

CBRE Awarded Management of ‘The Gherkin’ in London

After a competitive proposal process, CBRE Group, Inc. has been appointed to manage 30 St Mary Axe, commonly known as ‘The Gherkin’ in London. The building’s owner is 30 St Mary Axe (Bermuda) LP, a joint venture between IVG EuroSelect 14, a closed-end fund managed by IVG Private Funds Management GmbH, and Evans Randall. The 40-story skyscraper is home to Swiss Re and a number of other financial and professional services firms, including US law firm Kirkland and Ellis and financial technology company ION Trading.

Approaching its ten year anniversary, the 48,000-sq.-m. (516,668-sq.-ft.) building was recently selected as the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s (CTBUH) inaugural 10 Year Award recipient. According to the CTBUH, The Gherkin’s “tapering form and diagonal bracing structure afford numerous benefits: programmatic flexibility, naturally ventilated internal social spaces that provide user comfort while reducing energy demand, and ample, protected public space at the ground level.”

Jones Lang LaSalle Acquires Knaus Partners

In a strategic move to aggressively expand its industry-leading third-party property management expertise, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) has acquired Means Knaus Partners (MKP), a Houston-based property management company. The transaction will boost JLL’s portfolio of office space under management by approximately 16 million square feet with properties located primarily in Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Orlando and Tampa.

Founded as a private real estate investment and management company in 1998 by industry veterans Steve Means and Doug Knaus, MKP manages 80 prime metropolitan office assets throughout the United States. Doug Knaus, MKP CEO, will join Jones Lang LaSalle as an International Director, and Robert Nowak, MKP COO, will join JLL as a Managing Director, along with nearly 100 MKP employees.

Media Facades are Multi-Faceted 21st-Century Communicators

Media facades have become a firm feature of the 21st century metropolis, increasingly bathing gray cities in an imposing play of light and color. What once began with lurid neon advertising hoardings in New York’s Times Square has grown beyond its initial purpose as a pure advertising medium to present itself today as a conveyor of artistic and social messages, transforming buildings into giant screens. There are now even architecture practices specializing in “mediatecture”.

Fire Hazards Associated with Dubai’s Aluminum Clad High-Rises

The rapid development of scores of spectacular high-rise buildings in Dubai between 1994 and 2009 was unsurprisingly not without some growing pains. 1994 saw the start of the Burj Al Arab, the lemon-wedge-shaped building on whose heli-deck we see international sports stars hitting tennis and golf balls, which I think makes a fitting start to the period. However it was not until some years later that H.H.…

Façade Access: Ups & Downs, Ins & Outs

The technology and equipment used in exterior maintenance is continually evolving, as more buildings become architectural statements and landmarks with intricate details. Several design factors should be considered when incorporating safe and efficient façade access systems into the design of the world’s tallest buildings or integrating them with existing buildings.

38-Story Residential High-Rise is First in NYC to Offer Composting Program

The 38-story Helena apartment building on Manhattan’s West Side is the first in the city to offer its residents regular food scrap collection through the city’s Organics Collection Program. The program takes “organic materials” such as food scraps, soiled paper and plants out of the trash stream, and recycles them , helping the City reduce trash disposal costs, achieve its recycling goals and limit greenhouse gas emissions.…

Restroom Trends Cater to Cleaning & Conservation

If I were to write an article on restroom trends in high-rise properties in the mid-1990s or 2000s, the emphasis would likely have been on luxury. The “functional look” of commercial restrooms, commonly found in the 1980s and earlier, was no longer en vogue. It had been replaced with marble, granite, and high-end restroom fixture designs.

Consider Maintenance Requirements When Selecting Carpet

Maintaining carpet can be a constant battle between quality and staying within the confines of a reasonable maintenance budget. The correct carpet specification will minimize these difficulties and make it easier to maintain the appearance of a building. When selecting and writing specifications for new carpet, consider maintenance requirements for each selection and the ease or difficulty to keep the flooring looking good on a daily basis.…

Preparing for the Next Big Storm: NYC Task Force Examines Disaster Readiness

A few obvious factors come to mind when high-rise building owners and managers think about preparing for and recovering from a natural disaster: creating emergency plans, establishing reliable back-up power, forming business continuity strategies to preserve data… and the list goes on. But as New York continues its recovery from Hurricane Sandy, the recommendations released in a report from Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn are a good reminder that there are other things to think about when preparing your facility for a possible disaster.

Fire Hazards Associated with Dubai’s Aluminum Clad High-Rises

The rapid development of scores of spectacular high-rise buildings in Dubai between 1994 and 2009 was unsurprisingly not without some growing pains. 1994 saw the start of the Burj Al Arab, the lemon-wedge-shaped building on whose heli-deck we see international sports stars hitting tennis and golf balls, which I think makes a fitting start to the period. However it was not until some years later that H.H.…

Landmark High-Rise Fire Study Evaluates Effectiveness of Crew Sizes, Elevator Use

When responding to fires in high-rise buildings, firefighting crews of five or six members—instead of three or four—are significantly faster in putting out fires and completing search-and-rescue operations, concludes a major new study carried out by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in cooperation with five other organizations.

Results of the study, conducted with 13 Washington, D.C.-area fire departments, were presented at the 2013 Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Conference in Phoenix.…

32 Avenue of the Americas to Host New State-of-the-Art Data Center

In a significant transaction for the technology industry in New York City and Lower Manhattan, Telx, a leading provider of interconnection and data center services, has “plugged in” to the Rudin Family’s 32 Avenue of the Americas in TriBeCa.

The cloud enablement provider has signed a 20-year, 45,000 square-foot lease for the entire 10th floor of the distinctive, landmarked 27-story art deco tower, for the creation of a brand new, state-of-the-art NYC3 Interconnection Center facility.…

M2M Technology Convergence Making Smart Buildings Even Smarter

Smart buildings are leveraging emerging machine-to-machine (M2M) technologies to become even smarter. According to a report from Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), six advances in smart building technology are enabling a new era in building energy efficiency and carbon footprint reduction, yielding a return on investment for building owners within one to two years.

“M2M technologies are converging to make smart buildings – and their owners – even smarter,” said Dan Probst, Chairman of Energy and Sustainability Services at Jones Lang LaSalle.…

High-Rise Hotels That Get IT

High-def flat screens embedded into bathroom mirrors. Electronic doorbell systems that feature guest presence detection and tray removal tracking. Energy management systems that set lighting and temperature levels based on whether guests are in the room, out of the room, or checked out.

All of these technologies are being incorporated into upscale high-rise hotels, according to Jeremy Rock, president of RockIT Group in Anaheim, CA. These amenities bring added comfort and satisfaction to guests, and can offer productivity advantages for hotel staff members as well.